Depuis des lustres
Meaning: For a very long time.
Language: French
Literally: For lustres
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A lustrum was the Roman five-year period concluded by a purificatory sacrifice after the census. Counting in them makes a stretch of time sound both long and formal.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Pleurer comme une Madeleine — To cry copiously and without restraint.
- Une madeleine de Proust — A small sensory trigger that unlocks a flood of memory.
- Avoir maille à partir avec quelqu'un — To have a quarrel or a bone to pick with someone.
- Faire main basse sur quelque chose — To seize something wholesale.
- S'en laver les mains — To disclaim all responsibility for an outcome.
- Tout le saint-frusquin — The whole lot; everything one owns.
More French idioms
- Des yeux de merlan frit — A soppy, languishing look.
- Payer en monnaie de singe — To pay with worthless promises instead of money.
- La montagne accouche d'une souris — A vast effort or grand announcement produces something trivial.
- La mouche du coche — Someone who bustles importantly while contributing nothing.
- On n'attrape pas les mouches avec du vinaigre — Gentleness achieves what harshness cannot.
- Prendre la mouche — To take sudden and disproportionate offense.
From our proverbs
- Many a good cow hath had a bad calf. — Good parentage cannot guarantee virtuous offspring; heredity alone does not determine cha…
- Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen. — Fear of exposure reveals cowardice itself—the truly brave face scrutiny without shame.
- The greatest crabs are not always the best meat. — Size alone doesn't guarantee quality; assess substance beneath surface appearances.
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